Committee urges review of tariff policy

Senators study reasons for price gaps between Canadian and U.S. products

Hey there, time traveller!This article was published 6/2/2013 (1652 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA -- The federal government needs to launch a comprehensive review of its tariff policy to help bridge a yawning price gap between Canadian and American retail prices, a Senate committee said Wednesday.

After studying the issue for eight months, the Senate finance committee said tariffs on consumer imports are not the only, or even major, reason for the price differential, but they are a significant factor and one that government can do something about.

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Books can be up to 40 per cent cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada.

The senators noted Canada still has an 18 per cent tariff on hockey pants, even though it could find no manufacturer still producing them in Canada.

And the problem is compounded depending on when the tariff is applied in the supply chain -- by the time it gets to the consumer, the duty could have multiplied two or three times.

"We're not saying get rid of all tariffs; we're saying study this and determine if they are appropriate and in most cases they are not," said Joseph Day, the chairman of the committee.

Prior to the report's release, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who asked the committee to look into the issue in the first place, said the government has "been looking at our tariff situation carefully, particularly with respect to consumer goods in Canada, to see what we could do."

But he also noted tariffs bring in needed revenues for the government. According to the report, they brought in $3.6 billion in 2010-11.

The long-awaited report makes clear there is no one reason -- or fix -- for the price differential, leading tens of thousands of Canadians to cross the border to stock up on clothes, alcohol, food, books, household supplies and even car tires.

Economies of scale, the bigger U.S. market, higher input costs -- particularly transportation costs -- and so-called country pricing, whereby manufacturers and suppliers charge Canadian retailers a higher price for brand-name items than their U.S. counterparts, all contribute to the phenomenon.

The report contains some head-scratchers.

For example, a Toyota made in Woodstock, Ont., costs more in the southwestern Ontario community than in Honolulu. Books are routinely cheaper in the U.S. by up to 40 per cent with some titles.

The report points out 90 per cent of goods enter Canada duty-free, meaning even if all tariffs are eliminated, prices would drop on only a minority of goods.

The senators said some of the fault lies with shoppers. Canadians are not price-savvy enough and don't bargain enough, they said, but they believe with the advent of online shopping, that will change.

The report makes three other recommendations to help close the price gap:

-- Canada and the U.S. should integrate safety standards and regulations as much as possible, because any difference usually results in higher costs for the smaller market.

-- Ottawa should look at raising the threshold of "de minimis" fees on low-value shipments into Canada from the current $20. The U.S. threshold is $200.

-- And lastly, it says the government should explore reducing the 10 per cent markup Canadian distributors can add to the list price of American books.

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